To meet the huge demand for data centric applications, Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) systems and systems that employ one or more aspects of the specifications of the Fourth Generation (4G) standard for wireless communications are being extended to a Fifth Generation (5G) standard for wireless communications, also referred to as New Radio (NR) access. Compared to existing 4G technologies, 5G is targeting much higher throughput with low latency and utilizing higher carrier frequencies and wider bandwidths, at the same time reducing energy consumption and costs. 5G networks are also expected to offer system access and services that have different characteristics and connectivity control for future services. In this regard, the NR design needs to be highly flexible and tailored towards new requirements.
The foundation of this next generation cellular network is a global 5G standard for a new orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) based air interface designed to support the wide variation of 5G device-types, services, deployments and spectrum. The most apparent transformation taking place with 5G NR is the move towards higher millimeter wave (mmWave) frequencies, which provide a promising approach to significantly boost the capacity of 5G. However, mmWave devices and network access points suffer from severe phase noise mainly due to the mismatch of transmitter and receiver frequency oscillators. The standardized 3GPP Release introduced a reference signal referred to as the phase tracking reference signal (PTRS) to facilitate mitigating the performance loss due to phase noise. However, due to the new requirements and services of 5G NR, application of the 3GPP Release PTRS design specification to 5G NR wireless communication system has resulted in new challenges that must be overcome to achieve optimal system performance.